SINGAPORE shares closed 2.52 per cent lower on Monday despite a US bailout of banking giant Citigroup, dealers said.
The blue-chip Straits Times Index closed down 41.81 points at 1,620.29 on slim volume of 790 million shares worth S$650 million (US$425 million).
Losers led gainers 284 to 108 with 930 issues unchanged.
Investors had been watching the fate of Citigroup but a deal announced after the close of the early trading session failed to lift sentiment.
After weekend talks, the US government vowed to protect Citigroup against 'unusually large losses' on its asset pool of about US$306 billion (S$467.2 billion).
In addition, the Treasury Department will invest US$20 billion in Citigroup from a US$700 billion package approved by Congress earlier this year to cope with the financial crisis, in exchange for preferred stock with an
eight-percent dividend to the Treasury.
'Everybody is very edgy,' and continuing to watch developments in the United States, one trader said.
Banks were among the losers. DBS dropped 33 cents to $9.27, UOB was off 44 cents to $11.26, and OCBC fell five cents to $4.55.
Property counters also eased, with CapitaLand down 10 cents to $2.50, City Developments falling 30 cents to $5.30 and Keppel Land fell seven cents to $1.43.
Singapore Airlines ended down 24 cents at $10.36, but Singapore Telecommunications rose three cents to $2.48. -- AFP
